


This Side of Home

by halfelicity (butterjaehyun)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Childhood Friends, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, M/M, Slice of Life, art student jaehyun, jaeyong grow up together, med student taeyong, tsundere!taeyong, whipped!jaehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:01:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21833362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterjaehyun/pseuds/halfelicity
Summary: “Before I fell in love with words, with setting skies and singing birds— it was you I fell in love with first.”Or, a story about two best friends who grow up together, and brave the storms of the world that seem to tear them apart along the way.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	This Side of Home

**Author's Note:**

> hello there~ thank you for visiting my story!
> 
> So I guess I broke my procastination phase at last and managed to get back into writing, finally~ I'm back with a new Jaeyong story, it's going to be a pretty long fic but I'll try my best to update it regularly (weekly) ;u; Hope it would interest you, and that you'll find some form of joy reading this :-)
> 
> Once again thank you for checking out my story, and enjoy!

“Sometimes, you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” -- Dr. Suess.

—

****#1. The First.** **

It’s not a strange thing to think about, to say that faith is like taking the first step when you can’t see the whole staircase. Perhaps some people would say, wisdom is seeing the elevator behind it that would have taken you to the top floor: the easy way out.

But some like to think that life itself is really just as simple as that; taking chances even though you don’t really need to, because it’s faith that’s telling you better things are waiting on the other side.

And maybe, because it’s also faith that’s waiting for you to take the extra mile for something all the more worthwhile, something you’d never expect to get at any other point in your life — to Jaehyun, his life is exactly just that.

“Hey mom, are we there yet?” the six year old asks, groggy from where he’s huddled up in the backseat of a black Nissan. It pulls over at the side of a driveway, reversed into a parallel lot before the engine dies down with a hum.

“Yeah we are, baby,” comes a gentle coo. Seatbelts click apart and doors swing open. “Come on, up on your feet. You’re going to love our new home.”

The first time Jaehyun sees him — the boy with raven black eyes and a shaggy undercut that looked greatly overgrown — he thought he’d been seeing things for a moment, catching the shadow of a peeping figure behind blinds of a bedroom window from where he stood at the foot of the apartment complex. He’d been looking up out of wonder just before, curious about which floor his new home would be at.

_They’re probably our new neighbors_ , his parents had said, hands filled with boxes and smiles on their faces as they began to unload the trunk of their car, noticing the pairs of eyes peering at them from the complex’s second storey too.

The boy hadn’t stayed long. He was gone before Jaehyun could get a proper look himself; a kid just like him, probably the youngest in the family of three that apparently lived in the unit right next to his.

“Maybe you could make your first new friend here,” he hears his mother say, with a soft pat on his shoulder.

Right, new friends.

_But Jaehyun missed his old friends._

—

  
****#2. A Step.** **

The Jung family moves in with ease, despite the absence of movers to do the job for them. They’ve never believed in spending those extra hundreds to hire people for things they could do themselves. Not that they had much to move in with either, they’d already had a bunch of new stuff delivered right to their new home.

“Do you like your new room, honey?”

It’s nothing like his old one, so to say. The new space is definitely bigger, much cozier since it’s entirely his now — complete with his own single bed, a mini library and of course, a chest of toys. Perks of passing your sixth birthday, indeed.

“I think we should pay our neighbors a visit later,” he hears his dad say. “We could bring cookies or something.”

“That sounds nice. Do you wanna help with the cookie cutters, Jae?”

Jaehyun never says no to cookies and cookie cutters; he brightens, immediately standing from a box he’d been raiding to unpack.

“Do I get to put them in the oven this time?”

“Mmm, we’ll see about that.”

He does get to put a fresh batch of chocolate-chip cookies into the oven once, and they head out a while later, carrying a basket full of the goodies neatly bagged in plastic wraps.

Jaehyun’s nervous for some reason, though he’s got his favorite, lucky ol’ ninja turtle shirt on. He hides behind his mother the whole time they’re waiting outside their neighbor’s unit, oddly timid yet hopeful at the same time at the thought of getting to make a new friend.

He’s never been good at socializing, even back in his old neighborhood. His friends did all the work for him, being open as they are.

“Oh, hello there! What a surprise, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

The Lees are warm, welcoming as his parents had said they would be, full of smiles and well-prepared as they invited his family in for a drink, along with a small chat.

From all the times his parents had had guests over before, Jaehyun’s used to this — sitting quietly among a group of adults making conversation, pretending to listen and only speaking when necessary. He always gets the same questions; how old are you, what do you like to do, how do you like the new Transformers movie; and his answers come robotically, nonetheless. Still, he feels comfortable for some reason, in a foreign home that’s almost a replica of his own.

“Hey, Taeyongie, come meet our new neighbors. Don’t be shy, this is Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun remembers him, despite the mere seconds he’d seen him for that same morning: the kid with the shaggy undercut, now dressed in blue PJs and sporting the same light blush on his cheeks that tinted Jaehyun’s too.

“Hi, I’m Taeyong.”

The younger had never been so stumped over a simple greeting by anyone in his life.

“...H-Hi, I’m Jaehyun.”

He’s taken to the elder’s room later, excused from the adults to ‘go and play’ with his new friend, and he’s nervous, for some reason. It shouldn’t have been like that, but that was probably the most nerve-wracking moment Jaehyun ever had.

Until Taeyong took a step. “So, I see you like the Ninja Turtles,” he said, gesturing towards the younger’s shirt with a gentle smile.

“...Yeah, do you too?” is all Jaehyun says.

“Totally. I have all their DVDs. Wanna watch some with me?”

And so Jaehyun took a step too.

“Sure, I’d love to.”

—

#3. A Leap.

It’s been a day.

A week.

A month, then two, three.

School’s not as fun as Jaehyun had hoped it would be, neither is the new town he’s in; he misses his old friends still. But time flies by faster than Jaehyun realises it, thanks to a certain someone.

Fitting in ended up being much easier than expected for Jaehyun, what with Taeyong making the effort to guide the younger along and show him around their new town. Taeyong’s much friendlier than he seemed to be, they become considerably close friends rather quickly, with their similar interests and hobbies. Being neighbours is a plus point on its own too; they spend every waking hour with each other, playing video games, watching cartoons, riding bicycles, and even have sleepovers sometimes.

Company does make adjusting to a new place much easier to cope with, as Jaehyun’s parents had told him, and being with Taeyong, Jaehyun undoubtedly feels at ease, for more reasons than he could count. He doesn’t feel it, when the seasons and years pass right before Jaehyun’s eyes; his first year at a new elementary school, then his second, and his third, then his tenth birthday. Every new turn he takes, Taeyong is always there with him.

If there is one thing about the fear of change, it’s overcoming that fear when you realise the constants that exist among them, ones you feel comforted by and cherish whole-heartedly. And just as quickly as Taeyong slips into his new life the first time, that’s what Taeyong becomes — Jaehyun’s constant. His constant in an ever-changing world.

Though, constants could prove to be the catalysts of potential downfalls too; get too used to them, and change becomes an obstacle again.

“Hey, you’re going to be fine, okay? You’ve got enough friends to hang around with, you won’t even feel it.”

It’s the night before Jaehyun’s supposed first day of a new school year, his last in elementary. They’re lying in Taeyong’s room after a whole day of video games, and it was almost time for bed for them. Jaehyun’s parents were going to come and pick him up any moment now; they were just outside, in the living room with Taeyong’s parents too, but Jaehyun doesn’t want to leave.

He’s not looking forward to tomorrow, not at all.

It’s going to be a whole year without Taeyong, now that he’s graduated and is moving up to middle school.

“I’m going to miss you.”

Jaehyun’s voice is tiny, a hushed whisper that Taeyong nearly misses, and the younger has his eyes trained on the ceiling above them when he looks towards him, on the bed they were on.

“Hey now, I’m still here, aren’t I? We’ll still hang out like normal, since our schools end around the same time,” Taeyong laughs, a gentle chuckle that does nothing to ease the tension churning in Jaehyun’s chest. “Besides, you still have your other friends, you should spend more time with them. And for the record, _I_ should be the one nervous, going to an entirely new school and all.”

“Still. It’s just, not going to be the same,” Jaehyun frowns, burying his face deeper into the pillow to hide his blushing cheeks.

“Oh Jae, you’ll be okay, I’m sure of it. The year will pass before you know it.”

The smile that spreads across Taeyong’s face is small, nonetheless subtle, yet it’s genuine enough to fill Jaehyun up with immense warmth.

“...You’re not going to forget about me, right?” The younger dares to ask, timid as he ever is. “When you... make new friends, and meet new people.”

”Now you’re being ridiculous. How can you even think that?” Taeyong reaches out to lay a hand on Jaehyun’s arm; a silent gesture of comfort. “You’re my best friend, Jae. There’s no one that can ever replace you, okay? You have nothing to worry about.”

He knows he’s acting childish, with the whiny behavior he’s exhibiting. He also knows he’s making a fuss out of something small, but Jaehyun can’t help himself. Taeyong just means that much to him.

Of course, he doesn’t tell the older about the butterflies that are still stirring in him, despite his words.

“I’m always going to be here with you, Jaehyun. No matter what.”

Back then, Jaehyun never really knew how deep promises could go, nor how fragile trust can be to a person. Yet in that one moment, it’s like the whole world’s faded away and Taeyong is the only person he sees, the only person he hears. His constant.

Just like that, Jaehyun’s never been more sure, there’s no one else he believes in more than Taeyong.

And so he does.

**Author's Note:**

> prologue for now, the first official chapter will be posted in a few days! in the meantime, do feel free to comment~
> 
> [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/butterjhs) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/butterjhs)


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